Jigsaw

CHAPTER 12

Harry sat comfortably on the crumbling stone steps of Applegate Manor, quietly watching the bees as they flittered backwards and forwards on the daisies growing up between the long grasses. It had taken him just under a week to disappear from wizarding society completely without trace just as Snape had managed it eight years prior. Harry had found it surprisingly easy, just a case of wiping his files and his wand signature from the ministry through some black market deals, and then writing letters to his family saying he’d just gone away for a while and not to worry. That was the hardest part Harry had found, was leaving Sirius and Remus but it was necessary. Admittedly there was still a life to go back to if his plan went to pieces but it would never be the same, not now. What his plan rested on now though was actually getting in to see Snape himself and Harry was already half way there.

It was Wednesday. Harry had assumed right that Draco would visit Snape on the same day every week and had slipped just as easily through the hedge with the blonde as he’d done the first time. Harry had taken a moment to shake his head at the hedge, hardly believing that the Auror’s had missed something so blatantly obvious. Still though it was an in genius way of keeping unwanted trespasses out without causing too much suspicion. It also hid the completely enclosed garden and cottage that sat in the shadow of the much larger manor. Knowing that it was definitely a bad idea to approach Snape with Draco still in the cottage Harry had sat himself down on the crumbling steps of the manor and waited for Draco to leave the cottage.

Draco stayed longer this week and it was a good two hours before the blonde reappeared from inside the cottage carrying the empty basket. Harry smiled from beneath his cloak as he watched Malfoy disappear back through the hedge, which shivered and sealed itself shut behind him. Harry was now alone with Snape and the boy got up and pulled the invisibility cloak from his body. Shaking his hair back into some semblance of order Harry set off cautiously down the arbor path to the cottage at its end.

As Harry drew up to the front step he paused quietly to stare at the wooden door. He was nervous, almost frightened by what he might find behind the door. Harry had never quite stopped to think of what would happen if Snape didn’t want to see him, which was a high possibility considering the animosity between them of the past. It also didn’t occur to him that his potions professor might look different, or act differently. They were all questions that Harry didn’t have rational answers for. The only thing Harry knew was that he wanted to find out, exactly what had happened on the night of the last battle and only Snape could tell him that. Raising his hand to knock on the door Harry stopped again as noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Obviously Draco hadn’t closed it right after he’d left. Harry didn’t know what compelled him go inside without knocking but he did and with the most unexpected results.

Slowly Harry entered the hallway of the little cottage and froze almost instantly as he saw a familiar shadow standing in the entranceway of the lounge.

“Who’s there?” Harry didn’t know why he didn’t reply, as he could do nothing but stare at the figure whose face was still shadowed in darkness. “I know you’re there I can hear you breathing, tell me who you are and what you want?” Harry frowned a little as he watched the figure wave a short brown stick out in front of him. A stick that Harry mistook as a wand in the darkened hallway. “I’m warning you reveal yourself at once?” Again Harry frowned as he glanced down at his person somewhat confused. Harry hadn’t forgotten to take his invisibility cloak off, and even in the dim light the potions professor should have been able to see him. Taking a step forward Harry watched, as the professor didn’t flinch like a wizard would do if approached by a stranger, instead he just continued to wave what Harry now saw to be a pencil about in front of him. “Draco is that you, I don’t like tricks.” Harry frown deepened as he took another quiet step closer to the potions professor so that now there was no possible way that the man could not see him. However the wizard didn’t move and remained wielding the pencil threateningly like a wand.

“It’s me.” Harry finally whispered watching as the wizard stumbled backward into the light of the living room having not realized his attacker had been so close to him. Harry followed the professor into the living room and in the light of the room he saw for the first time in eight years his professors face.

Time had looked after Snape exceedingly well. The wizard was still tall, his long black hair was still a little greasy and perhaps a little longer, but there were no signs of gray in it. The professor’s face too was devoid of signs of age, only a thin set of forked lines on his forehead told of his elder years. None of that seemed to register though because Harry’s attention had fallen on the man’s eyes, which stared straight through him as if he wasn’t even there. The black inky irises that had once made the blood of many a student run cold, were now cloudy like smoke. They had no gleam and almost no life in their shallow depth. Slowly Harry drew his wand out from inside his robe and aimed it directly at Snape’s forehead as he walked quietly forward. Snape never flinched as the wand came within inches of his temple, and Harry knew instantly what had happened.

“You’re blind.” Harry put his wand away and watched as Snape stopped waving his pencil about in front of him, his brow furrowing as the wizard fought to put a name to the voice.

“Excellent deduction Mr. Potter.” Came the cool reply at length. Harry smiled to himself having wondered how long it would take the professor to remember the voice of his most hated student. Harry stayed still in the center of the room as he watched as Snape lowered his pencil and reached out to his left searching for a moment with his hand before he found the table and put the pencil down precariously on its edge. Harry resisted the temptation to push the pencil further onto the table knowing that it was going to roll off any minute. “Draco mentioned you’d been to see him. How did you get in?” Harry watched as Snape carefully orientated himself with his hands resting on the surface of the table as he turned around and took two steps over to where a large chair was sitting in front of the fire. Snape bumped the table and the pencil fell to the ground. Harry quietly picked it up and replaced it on the flat surface before walking around to sit himself down on a chaise sofa beside the wall of books.

“Invisibility cloak.” Harry whispered as he watched Snape sit himself down in his chair his head turning slightly towards where he could hear Harry’s voice coming from.

“That damdable gift from your father.” Snape muttered icily as he turned his face back towards the warmth of the fire. Harry took the silence to glance around the cottage. The place was bigger than Harry expected with a high ceiling and a large glass auditorium to the left with windows that looked out onto a desolate garden. Dust clung to every surface yet everything had a place and was very organized. Harry glanced over Snape’s appearance. The wizard was dressed in his familiar wizarding robes, only that Harry could see the pink of the wizards belly poking out from beneath the robes where he’d failed to button the shirt up properly. Harry didn’t mention it and instead waited for Snape to continue, unsure himself of what to say. “I told Draco you wouldn’t be deterred, a Potter with a mission is like a bloodhound with a scent.” Harry smiled and nodded despite the fact he knew the wizard opposite him couldn’t see it. “I suppose you brought those intolerable friends of yours with you?”

“No actually I didn’t. I came alone and no one knows where I am.” Harry watched as a smug smile broke out across Snape’s thin lips as the wizard shook his head.

“I’m surprised Potter you managed to keep a secret but I suppose you intend to hand me over when you get what you came here for. That is assuming you have come here for something other than just the thrill of the chase?” Snape tilted his head towards where he thought Harry was and suddenly Harry felt like he was sixteen again having been chastised for running in the halls or blowing up a potion.

“You’ve not changed much have you sir, you’re still a nasty git.” Harry watched as Snape huffed a laugh at Harry’s comment before replying.

“What were you expecting Potter a completely changed man? You are still just as naive as you were in school.” Snape shook his head quietly and Harry knew he was being baited just like he had been in school

“Perhaps.” Harry replied evenly as he leant on his hands and stared at Snape openly. “How long has it been since you lost your sight?” Harry watched as Snape took a deep steady breath before pausing a moment before formulating his reply.

“It’s been slowly deteriorating for eight years but it has only been in the last year that the blurry shapes have finally faded into complete blackness.” Harry swallowed around a sudden lump in his throat as he continued to stare at Snape, finally noticing how tired he looked and how stressed. It was a brave face the potion master showed but Harry had become better at seeing past it.

“It’s a curse isn’t it?” Harry whispered watching as Snape closed his eyes, shadowing the smoky lenses with his eyelids.

“You have been doing your homework Potter.” Snape comment snidely as he continued. “Yes a blood curse to be precise, transmitted to me through the brand on my arm before his royal jackass departed this world.” Harry smiled sideways at Snape’s name calling. It was childish but Harry thought it probably made the professor feel better.

“So the other death eaters, do they have this curse too?” Harry inquired easily falling into old familiar ground. He and Snape had spent countless evenings discussing curses wherever the order’s base had moved to for that night. Harry hardly ever slept and neither it seemed did Snape and so the pair of them had found common ground keeping one another company into the wee hours of the morning.

“Perhaps. Those that are still alive anyhow. The curse is designed to take away the single sense you rely on the most, so there is no real telling what the others are suffering with. I myself valued my sight above anything, because without it I can not make potions, and without potions my life is meaningless.” Harry felt a tear slip down his cheek as he watched the professor open his eyes again to stare blankly at the fireplace.

“And there is no cure?” Harry inquired trying to hold back the emotion in his tone of voice.

“No.” Was the simple, cold reply that Snape gave leaving a silence hanging heavily in its wake. Harry sighed heavily and rested his chin on his hands watching as Snape coughed deeply into his palm.

“What’s the potion been doing then?” Harry whispered feeling more than a little depressed.

“Slowing the inevitable, easing some of the pain. Not much really.” Snape shrugged his shoulders and Harry noticed that the wizard shivered a little as a draft blew down the chimney. “Potter, there is a blanket on the heater in the auditorium can you please fetch it for me.” Harry was surprised to hear such a polite request for help from his potions master but did as he was bid, obediently returning to Snape’s side with the blanket, which he draped carefully over Snape’s lap. “You’re shocked I asked aren’t you?” Harry stood up a little as he finished tucking the blanket back around Snape’s lap, the man’s eyes unseeingly looking at him.

“Yes, I didn’t think you capable.” Harry whispered as he finally stood back up straight from rearranging the blanket before returning to his seat on the lounge.

“I didn’t think I was capable either but I swallowed my pride and learnt quickly to rely on others for things I’d taken for granted in the past. Thank-you for fetching the blanket.” Harry watched as a small genuine smile tugged at the corner of Snape’s lips as he glanced in the general direction of where Harry had sat down again.

“You’re welcome.” Harry whispered in reply. For a long time Harry sat watching Snape in quite reflection, lost in his own thoughts and his memories of a past time. Surprisingly enough Snape hadn’t reacted like Harry had expected him to and thrown him out. Not that he was capable of it anyway but still it was a thought. It was only as Harry watched as the professor’s hand drop limply off the arm of the chair that Harry realized Snape had fallen asleep. It seemed strange seeing the formidable man he’d feared in school slumped in his chair fast asleep, unprotected and his expression open and unmasked. Today had not turned out how Harry had expected it to. Slowly Harry blew out the candles he could find around the living room, and having tucked Snape’s hand gently under his blanket Harry curled up on the lounge and waited for his mentor to wake up again…

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A/N Well there we go, a blind Snape and a Harry who\'s utterly confused....not all is as it seems though....*grins evily as she watches the undercurrent of evil slowly rise to the surface* Anyway hope you\'re enjoying it so far, and I appreciate all the reviews, I\'d wondered where you\'d all gone for a moment there.

Oh and to eve/roarke *hands you giant enchanted hedge clippers* yeah I crack myself up sometimes too...I warned you I\'d lost my marbles this time around. Look out for the \'shape shifting cottage\' coming to a chapter near you... *Hint Hint*

Cheers and Thanks for Reading

RIFFRAFF